Middle East
Egypt arrests Church bomb suspects
As several arrested as Christians attend Sunday service at Coptic church in
Alexandria struck by New Year's car bomb.
Last Modified: 02 Jan 2011 13:27 GMT
Egyptian police have arrested 17 people suspected of involvement in the bombing
of a Coptic Christian church that killed at least 21 people, security sources
said.
The arrests came on Sunday as congregants were back praying in the church
targeted the day before by a car bomb that also wounded 97 people.
Dozens attended Sunday Mass at Al-Qiddissine church in Egypt's Mediterranean
port city of Alexandria while riot police backed by armored vehicles were
deployed outside.
Meanwhile, the service was marked by the grief and anger felt by a congregation
devastated by the attack, which took place on Saturday outside the church's
door about 30 minutes into the New Year.
Many sobbed while others cried hysterically, screamed in anger or slapped
themselves.
"We spend every feast in grief," Sohair Fawzy, who lost two sisters and a niece
in the attack, said.
Grim reminders of the attack remained in the church a day after the bombing.
Its ground floor was stained with the blood of victims brought inside
immediately after the attack.
Two statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary were toppled and the benches were
scattered by the impact of the blast. And a "2011" sign hung on the inside of
the church's door was torn apart.
The attack Saturday was the worst violence against Egypt's Christian minority
in a decade.
It sparked clashes between riot police and Christians who say the government
hasn't done enough to protect them.
The Copts are the biggest Christian community in the Middle East and account
for up to 10 per cent of Egypt's 80 million population.
No bombing claim
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday's bombing, which
came as nearly 1,000 faithful left Al-Qiddissine Church, located in
Alexandria's Sidi Bechr district.
According to the Egyptian interior ministry, the car that exploded was parked
in front of the church.
After the blast occurred early on Saturday morning, enraged Christians emerging
from the church fought with police and stormed a nearby mosque.
In pictures
Day of anger in Egypt
Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from the Egyptian capital Cairo, said
that the car bomb probably involved sophisticated remote-control timer
technology.
"Churches in Egypt are heavily guarded, so undoubtedly questions will arise
about how a car was parked so close to the church and who was able to detonate
it from a distance," he said.
While it was not known who was responsible for the blast, a group calling
itself "al-Qaeda in Iraq" had threatened the country's Coptic Christian
community.
The Egyptian interior ministry blamed the bombing on "foreign elements".
Adel Labib, Alexandria's governor, has linked the attack to al-Qaida, but our
correspondent says the government has not made clear who they were blaming for
the bombing.
Egypt's government has long insisted that the terror network does not have a
significant presence in the country, and it has never been conclusively linked
to any attacks here.
Plea for protection
The attack in Egypt prompted Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican to call for
Christians throughout the Middle East to be protected.
The bombing comes almost two months to the day after an October 31 attack by
Muslim fighters on Our Lady of Salvation church in central Baghdad, which left
44 worshippers, two priests and seven security forces members dead.
Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate claimed responsibility for that attack and made new
threats against Christians.
The group threatened to attack Egyptian Copts if their church did not free two
Christians it said had been "imprisoned in their monasteries" for having
converted to Islam.
The two women were Camilia Chehata and Wafa Constantine, the wives of Coptic
priests whose claimed conversion caused a stir in Egypt.
Protection around Copt places of worship was discreetly stepped up after the
threats, as Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, said he was committed to
protecting the Christians "faced with the forces of terrorism and extremism".
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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